A Tassie vote needed

Since our launch nearly three years ago, Stuart Gibson’s stunning surf portolios have been among the most viewed features on Leatherwood Online. The young photographer’s dedication to his vocation is now beginning to pay off, and he can do with a little help.

Pam Verwey: My Tasmania

Hobart-based Pam Verwey first became passionate about photography on a trip around Australia in 1984 and, in 1986 moved to Tasmania, continuing her work as a medical scientist, but determined to combine her desire to study fine art with her interest in photography. Enjoy the results here

Art meets science

Art met science when visual artist Peter E Churak was awarded a Synapse Art and Science Residency at CSIRO Marine Research in Hobart. From many hours of underwater video and hundreds of stills, Churak created a sensational short film — Aqualux II. See the results here.

Not far from here

Hobart-based painter, Richard Wastell, thanks to a commission from the Devonport Regional Gallery, has produced an sell-out exhibition of paintings that capture the essence of the Tasmanian wilderness, its extraordinary beauty and also its vulnerability and the desecration wrought upon it by man. Read more here

Inspiring Freycinet

Rob Blakers spent many years capturing the images featured in this special portfolio from his latest book Freycinet. See more here

Rural Inspiration

RURAL INSPIRATION | Photographer Maria Fletcher says her creative inspiration comes from looking out daily “at a rural landscape which has been shaped over the past 150 years by a small number of farming families. Alongside the cleared paddocks and tree lined boundaries, the land still retains a sense of its ancient human history”. Enjoy her portfolio here.

Portfolio: Sheila Smart

In her own words:

My husband and I have lived in Australia since 1974 but it was not until 2004 that we decided to visit the only State we had yet to see — Tasmania.

It was long overdue and was very much an eyeopener for both of us.

We were immediately struck by the beauty of the countryside and the friendliness of the wonderful people.

Don Stephens portfolio

Outstanding Hobart-based photographer Don Stephens started his career on The Mercury in 1953 as the temporary replacement for an employee sent to London for nine months. Nine months ended up being 38 years.

His interest in photography began when his father bought his schoolboy son a Box Brownie, and later the plastic Baby Brownie. Don would walk around the streets of Hobart snapping away enthusiastically. More here.

Rob Blakers portfolio

In his own words:

The further west that one travels in Tasmania the wilder it becomes. There is, in the tangled forests, wild rocky coastlines, tumultuous rivers, wild coastlines and untracked ranges an ever-present sense of rawness and untamedness. Being open to the full force of the Roaring Forties, rain and storm prevail.

From Cape Grim in the far north, to rugged Southwest Cape, Australia’s wildest seas crash upon a coastline which is largely devoid of human habitation. Eight to ten metre swells are not uncommon. Wild weather shapes the landscape.

Painted wall

Hobart photographer Steve Lovegrove says he has always been interested in “found” objects, and photographing everyday scenes and places that people don’t ordinarily notice — especially trying to find the beauty in subjects that might normally be considered ugly in the conventional sense.

This, he says, “is achieved by looking for a detail or angle, or by choosing a film that will isolate or enhance what’s already there. In many cases there is no technique required, just the eye to see”.

ABC TV tunes in

Geoff Murray’s fabulous wilderness portfolio — featured here in our launch issue — has made a big impression. The ABC is featuring Geoff in George Negus Tonight at 6.30pm on April 28. The video editor emailed Geoff with this deserved compliment: "I have to say that they are stunningly beautiful images … and I see 25 images a second, 40 hours a week …"

A Time to Eat

Paul County’s award-winning photographs of Tasmania’s flamboyant restaurateurs, waiters, and bon vivants makes for fascinating viewing in this portfolio. Find out more here.

Syndicate

Stanton Bed and Breakfast
The magnificent convict-built country manor, Stanton, was built in 1817, and is situated on one of Tasmania's first land grant sites — 16 acres of pasture and orchards at Magra, in the heart of the historical and beautiful Derwent Valley.

Red Tag Trout Tours
Roger Butler leads this one-man Tasmanian guiding operation which caters to flyfishers, from all over the world, who share a common goal: getting a wild brown trout to hand.